days of life
by not always sane
Summary: when the SPR team take a new case they didn't know just how drasticly things would change. but what they also didn't know is that it might just be for the better. naru is a bit ooc. in revision.
1. sleep is not needed

Mai ran her tough across her teeth, trying to find something to do. She had finished her work hours ago. And was now jus sitting at her desk looking bored. Lin and naru had hauled themselves in their offices and had not come out since work began that morning. Naru had only asked for tea three times during the day, an all time high for the her narcissistic boss. She sighed again and debated on weather or not to ask Lin if he wanted some tea instead, but she knew all she would get out of the man was a 'no thank you' and a curtly nod.

The work had been slow lately, and everyone had had things to do. Bou-san was busies with his band. john, with the church. Masako had her work and the others did whatever they did in their spare time. Now was the perfect time to practice her chants but she was to lazy to get up, and what if the phone rang? Then what? Naru would kill he that was what. She laid her head on her arms and allowed her mind to wander.

-------------o

Mai opened her eyes slowly so they agusted to the with light that radiated from above her. She knew the darkness well "gene? Are you there?" gene only came to her on missions so it was odd for him to contact her on such an occasion. 'I'm here mai' gene said appearing in front of her. She jumped slightly. "what do you need?" she didn't want to sound rude but if naru found her sleeping he would dock her pay more than necessary. Gene frowned. "is my stupid brother being an ass to you again?" mai laughed, gene had a quality about him that naru was lacking, a sense of humor perhaps? "no, well… Yes but not more than usual" she sighed 'I'm just bored right now" gene grinned at her "that's what I'm here for I was bored to and well seeing as you're the only one who I can contact that has a pulse…" he trailed off. Mai smiled at him then gave a mock scowl. "is that all I am to you cheep entertainment?" gene laughed 'no, no your so much more, your high priced entertainment" he grinned at her. She swatted his arm playfully. Then he frowned " you have to wake up, my brothers about to ask you for tea" mai rolled her eyes "I'll see you then" she said as she faded back in to reality.

-------------o

Mai woke up to a pare of glaring blue eye's "I'm not paying you to sleep mai" mai stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "blame your brother, he decided to wanted to talk to me" naru glared at her then walked back into his office "mai, tea!"

* * *

hellow people, the story will get better in the next chapter. hey can someone message me on hop to add a chapter cuz i have no clue how thanks! :::))))

-dede


	2. not safe

That morning Mai woke up early for her normal sleep schedule, with an extra half an hour on her hands she started to get ready for school. She decided to go fancy today, wearing a blue tee and a jean mine skirt with a short whit sleeveless jacket. She did her hair crimpy that day, feeling this was a day to look good.

Mai suspected that her homeroom teacher's hair was fake. She had been staring at it for the last thirty minuets with on proof, or notes on his lecture. But how could she write notes when there was a good mystery on her hands? She was a paranormal investigator after all.

Instead of paying attention to the boring history lecture she stared idly out the window. Wondering when a case was going to come along. She actually _missed_ work! How could that be? Mai just summed it up to being bored.  
Mai was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when her teacher's book came down hard on her desk. "Miss Taniyama! Are you listening!?" her chubby homeroom teacher asked, angry at her apparent lack of interest in history. "I'm sorry, what?" she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was not listening to his lecture. But he suspected that most of his students didn't- oh, well their loss. He sighed and clamed down. "You have a phone call in the office" he said turning his back to her. She grabbed her bag and hurried out the door.

"Mai, we have a case I need you to come in" naru said over the phone  
Mai's eyebrow creased angrily "I'm at school I just can't go" she said as if it was obvious- which it was. Naru sighed. "I don't particularly _care_, besides I already told your principle it was of the utmost importance that you come in and he has already given you the go-ahead"  
mai was very disappointed that naru already talked to the principle. She sometimes said that the head of the school had not let her leave to get out of naru's whims'. But now that was impossible. "Fine, I'll be there in ten minuets" _this is unfair _mai thought, "oh, and Mai?" naru asked, his voices was just above a whisper. It gave her Goosebumps. "yes, naru?" naru said in the same whispery voice "don't forget the tea"  
-------------o  
When Mai came in to the office that day all heads turned to her- not because of her bad mood but because of her outfit. Bou-san whistled in a playful manner and asked "got a hot date tonight Mai?" Mai glared at him "no. I. do. Not." her voce was tight and agitated. Bou-san shut up then not wanting to get the shit beat out of him. John had the most subtle reaction, a small blush and turned his head. Masako turned her head and didn't even bother with a remark. Mai was thankful for that even if it was meant to be rude. Ayako walked in holding a big shopping bag in her hand, which dropped when she saw Mai. "What are you wearing?!" Ayako yelled at the top of her lungs. Mai raised an eyebrow and checked her reflection in the glass of the window. "I call them clothes?" mai said sarcastically. Ayako franticly ripped threw the big shopping bag for something. "Ah! I found it!" she exclaimed happily then threw it over to Mai. She caught it then inspected the cloth." why would I want a jacket? It's almost 100 degrees out today?" Ayako gasped. "Your clothes obviously! I can't be a grandmother yet!" Mai blinked "what?" then placed her hand on her hip "are you saying I'm a tramp?" masoko scoffed, "are you saying your not?" mai glared at her "why you little bitc-" she started to say but was cut off by naru yelling at her "mai tea!" mai threw one last glare at masako before heading into the kitchen. She boiled the tea, but the chore only kept her hands busy, her mind on the other hand was left to think of ways to touchier masako.

-------------o

When mai came in carrying the tea naru almost groaned. 'She just had to pick today to look so tempting' he was a bit annoyed at her for wearing the assemble she had on to day. Any other day it would have been a treat but today was just bad timing for him. It was clear that the men sitting in front of him found mai attractive and this would just make things harder for him having to work _and_ protect mai from hormonal men. This was just not his day.

"Kugen-san this is my assistant Taniyama, mai" naru said coldly, capturing the men's attention. Lin almost laughed; naru could be such a child. "Mai these are the Kugen brothers matsua-san and renje-san" he introduced them gesturing to the handsome men seated across from him. They looked almost identical except matsua had blue eyes and renje had brown eyes. "Pleased to meet you" she smiled pleasantly. She had not failed to notice that they were both extremely handsome. Naru coughed, ignoring the questioning look he got from mai." Renje-san you were saying?" naru asked a bit annoyed. "Oh, right" renje snapped out of his ogling. "At our home recently there have been some strange happenings…" he trailed off.

"Such as?" naru prompted

"Well, it seems silly really, but my mother and our staff have complained of knocking on walls, windows and things of that natcher. Naru seemed un-interested in the case to mai. She just hoped he would not be in such a bad mood when she asked him for time off from work to go to a camping trip for school.

"Also, my brother and father have seen people walking the hallways but when investigated there was no one there. Naru turned to renje

"What do the figures look like?" naru asked. "Oh, no not me our younger brother kyo, he saw them" naru nodded "aside from that things have gone missing and turned up in the oddest places, my mother for example, she was in her room getting ready for bed but when she took off her pearl necklace and when she turned around they were gone. Naru sighed "are you sure your brother did not take them?" the boys nodded 'he wasn't even in the house when they were took' matsua said sounding a bit insulted by the question. "Is there anything else?" naru's interest was growing thin with this case even if it pays well.

"There is something else but of mother thought it best to keep it under wraps for now" matsua said slowly, hanging his head sadly "one of our maids were found dead in kyo's tub, bleed out the doctors said that the wound was self inflicted but ino was such a bright girl there was no way of her doing that to her self… and just a few days ago her body went missing from the Morag and ever sense then the house ahs been in total chaos the maids leavening and there have been more attacks a few have bee sent to the ICU for care" he finished from his morbid tale then looked at naru "please help us" was all he said before they left.

-------------o

The drive out to the clients house was silent as usual, not on any other day had naru or Lin talked in the car so mai was quite used to it by now. She soon found herself dozing off.

--

Gene smiled when mai opened her eyes

"How are you?" he asked, his eye's narrowing. Mai was caught off grad by his question, like there was more behind it than just being polite. "Good?" she asked in the same uncertain tone. Gene smiled then talked her in a bear hug "ge-gene!" she stuttered surprised by his show of affection. He chuckled, "noll is such a dumb-ass If I was alive he'd have absolutely no chance at this game he seems to be playing" the words were simple enough but the context confused her. She pulled back to read his face but he shock his head. "If I tell you anything noll will kill me" gene joked. Then his face suddenly changed, "but if I hit then it's not cheating" he smiled suddenly "I wonder which one of us will win me or him?" he mused." gene, I don't get what your talking about. What game?" he leaned closer to her, their noses touching. "no, no I can't tell you, you have to guess" his cool breath hitting her burning cheeks he smiled mischievously then faded away.

--

"Mai, mai you have to wake up now" Ayako shock her awake. She sat up quickly, startled by her mother-figure. The dream she just had was slightly disturbing or embarrassing, whichever. She hoped out of the car and stretched trying to shake the sleep from her body. All the while un-known to her, she was being watched by deep blue eyes that glinted with amusement.

--

"Mai, this is Mr. and Mrs. Kugen" naru, gestured to the lovely woman in her early forties and a handsome man with graying hair "It's nice to meet you" mai finished with a charming smile, she found it useful to balance out naru's smart-ass remarks and sadists attitude by harmless flattery it surely got them out of a bunch of law-suites that naru would just blow off, clamming them to be 'not worth his time' and she had been asleep for god-knows how long, she couldn't image the kind of damage he must have done by now. She shuttered just thinking about it. Mr. Kugen raised an eyebrow "are you cold" he asked she shook her head "no, I just thought of something…. Scary" she said lamely, Mrs. Kugen coughed, gaining the attention of the group. "Herio, where's our son?" she said almost rudely "which one?" He retorted. Mai almost laughed but naru's hand on her shoulder warned her to keep her mouth shut. "Kyo, our son kyo where is he?" she gritted out angrily. "I'm here mother" a small child-like voice rang out. Just then a small blond faire-haired boy no older than six came trotting down the grand stair case and stopped at the steps to meet his parents. "Ah, there you are Kyo; this is Taniyama-san and Shibuya-san, their doing the investigation." Kyo merely nodded not seeming to interest in this conversation. "Herio, they have more important things to do than talk to children Kyo-chan run along now and go play" Kyo nodded and went out the front door. Mai suddenly wanted to do nothing more than go find Kyo and console him, although he didn't how it she bet anything he felt bad right now, his mother talked to him like she was dismissing a maid or so annoyance rather than her child. The father seemed loving enough but that could be wrong to. "Now" Mrs. Kugen said clapping her hands together. Pulling mai from her thoughts "who wants a tore of the house?"


	3. maid

The house was quiet. Just they way naru liked things, quiet, calm and collected. Well… the way naru liked _most _things.

Naru liked one thing- or person that didn't exactly fit in to that category: mai, stupid, stupid, sweet, crazy, hair brained, and emotional driven mai. Naru crossed his legs, trying to get into a better position for the long night ahead. "Mai, tea" he said tiredly, but it may have come off as a bit rude. Mai huffed angrily then stomped out of the room. Naru looked after her with a bemused look. Lin sighed, "Do you intend to drive her crazy or is that just a bonus? She's going to just crack one day and you're going to have your bad attitude and manner-less personality to thank." Naru raised an eyebrow "are you lecturing me?" _this is new_ naru thought surprised. "No, not lecturing naru, just telling the truth." Naru smirked _she wont go crazy, not yet anyway. _He smiled. Maybe after he told her how he felt about her, that he loved her. But then he would just hold her in his arms while she freaked out and would whisper in her ear that he loved her and kiss her- _wow now naru slow your pace_. He shook his head; he really needed a hobby his thoughts were getting more out there by the minuet.

-------------o

"Damn stupid jackass naru!" mai screamed at the tea cups she was carrying up the stairs. "He thinks it's so easy to do everything!" she gritted her teeth in frustration. "We're not all perfect" she sighed _I should just give up on him… _her head snapped up and she smiled _that's right! I have other options, like __Chihiro or… ringo… yah they've all asked me out. _ She thought, much existed by the Idea that there was more than one choice for her. Mai skipped up the stairs and entered the base room where she got a few questioning stairs. She put down the tea and happily resumed her work. Naru was intrigued of mai's reformed attitude and was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Ayako can I speak to you privately?" naru rose from his chair and stepped out of the room. Ayako shrugged and fallowed naru out the door. Her co-works eye's fallowing her every move. Wondering what she had done to get their boss's individual attention. Even Lin had known idea what his manner less boss (as he put it) wanted to speak to her about.

"So, you wanted to speak to me?" Ayako was slightly uncomfortable standing in front of her boss he was just so… intimidating.

"Yes, mai has been acting strangely recently (this morning) and I would like you to ask her about it" Ayako raised her eyebrow "why not just do it yourself?" she did not think mai was acting weirder… than normal anyway. Naru shrugged. "She seems to respond to you better than myself" in truth this was something naru wished he could fix but with mai and his current relationship he could not.

"Fine I'll play along but don't expect anything good" naru nodded, walking off to start the interrogations. In his mind mai was way more interesting than the case so far and he would rather be productive with some thing off topic rather than not at all.

--

It was well past midnight when everyone went to sleep-save for Lin-when thing started to happen. Mai awoke to an ear piercing scream; she sat up fast, her head spinning from the head rush. She dashed to her door to find it locked. She jiggled the handle but it didn't budge a bit. "h-hey! Someone help! My door it's locked!" mai yelled at the top of her lungs. Footsteps came down the hall as she pounded on the door.

"Mai, what's wrong?" bou-san's asked, his voice muffled by the door.

"The door, the doors locked" the door handle jiggled from the other side of the door.

"Alright, stand back" mai took a few steps back. There was a loud slam against the door and bou-san came flying threw the now damaged door. Mai ran to him and bent over to inspect him

"Bou-san, are you hurt?" he just groaned

"Just peachy thanks" mai grinned; he was okay.

The next few hours were spent monitoring the hot-spots of the house and when nine thirty a.m rolled around they had as much information as they had to start with, which wasn't much. Naru was starting to get impatient. He had sent masako out with john two hours ago to get the names and previous owners addresses of the house but he doubted that they would find anything.

"The ghosts aren't biting today huh?" bou-san asked out of pure boredom. Naru ignored him and went back over the testaments of the house residents but they weren't much help because they were relatively new.

"Maybe if we put mai in one of the rooms they would start to come out?" bou-san mused. Naru's head snapped up. He looked at bou-san who was still in his own world

"What did you say?" naru asked bou-san looked confused for a moment the frowned

"I said maybe we should put mai in own of the rooms and see if that makes them come out" naru thought on that for a moment.

"Your right, lets do that" naru smiled at him, bou-san shuddered.

--

"Why am I always bait?" mai grumbled to herself as she sat in Kyo's bathroom where the maid was found dead, bled out. She shivered and wondered idly if she should take back bou-san's birthday present for this. A chill went up her spin she shivered and spun around trying to fine the source. She gasped at the site before her eye's then let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Mai, mai what's wrong?" Ayako asked from the other side of the door.

"It-it's her, the maid!" there not two feet from her was the dead rotting corps of the maid.


	4. Kyo

i do not own ghost hunt sadly:( thnaks for reading!

* * *

The blue and red lights on the police car flashed across mai's face as the paramedics took away the maids body on a stretcher. Once the detectives were done questioning her naru sent her inside to sleep.

"But I don't want to sleep. I'll have nightmares" she protested. Naru sighed, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of mai staying up so late after such a traumatizing experience but he knew she was right and he would rather have a tiered mai than a scared mai.

"Fine but I want you on the couch in base, lin will watch over you" he knew Lin would not be happy to say the least with the idea of mai-sitting but Lin would never say anything to him about it. Lin knew how much naru cared for mai and he also knew that if anything serious happened to her there would be hell to pay. Mai frowned.

"He doesn't have to watch me I'm a big girl" it was just silly in mai's opinion to have Lin watch her, she wasn't in any danger. Naru sighed.

"This is not up for discussion mai, I won't have you going into shock, you don't do enough work as is" mai crossed her arms and got ready to protest but naru beat her to it.

"I don't care if you _think_ you can handle yourself, I've paid one too many hospital bills for you as of right now" mai's face was red with embarrassment. It wasn't her fault ghost seemed to think there was a sign on her back that said 'rent-a-victim'.

"That's not fair! I'm not in any danger!" mai yelled frustrated by naru's constant reminder of her bad luck. Naru narrowed his eyes at her then glanced at Ayako, she shot disapproving look at him. He sighed, giving into their stubbornness.

"Take it easy alright? I don't want you fainting or it'll come out of your salary" he threatened her before heading into the house to talk to Lin.

Mai smiled, thinking about her boss and how she had him wrapped him around her little finger.

Not that _he_ needed to know that.

-------------0

Kyo watched as the white rocks at the bottom of the crystal clear pond rolled with the current. For a moment everything was peaceful. His brothers were gone on a long vacation with their friends while his mother and father left of Paris to do so expensive shopping. And more importantly he was _alone. _Finley alone, he had all the time in the world to sit back and do absolutely _nothing._ He leaned back on the bank of the pond to sock up some warm sun.

Kyo smiled as a pleasant thought entered his mind. He and his father were playing in the pond when his mother was out and they were having a good time, ruff-housing and giving each other swift kicks and punches. That was when he was four and things had been much different then.

Now, he was lucky to get a 'good morning' or an 'I love you' once in a blue moon. But he could not blame them. They were still very depressed about _it_. Sometimes he could still here his mother crying late at night when she thought no one could hear. But he could, he always could.

Kyo's eye's were just about to close when he herd his name being called.

"Kyo-chan! Koy-chan! Oh, there you are everyone's been looking for you we were worried" mai said running up to him and smiled. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He vaguely remembered the girl when they first got here. She was rather plain. Her short brown hair was wind-blown and there were ugly black bags under her eye's indicating lack of sleep. _'Dose that boss of hers ever let her sleep?'_

He raised his eyebrow- more towards his unspoken question than the girl.

"Why would you be worried? That's stupid" he said cockily. Mai tried to keep her smart retort to her self but her tone was clipped despite her best efforts.

"Because there are bad things happening to your house and those bad things can come after you to" Kyo thought on that for a moment then nodded.

Mai sighed and turned around, calling Kyo over her shoulder.

"c'mon, Naru needs to speck to you" Kyo got up slowly and dusted off his pants, hurrying after mai.

The thought of 'bad things' as mai put it still fresh in his head.

-------------0

It was night time before naru realized that he had not had any tea today and that surprised him. He stretched out his body, trying (un-successfully) to get rid of the kinks in his back.

He called out for tea; hearing no response he got up and started looking for the girl.

Having not found her he went to her room for a last resort.

He knocked quietly to give for warning to the girl.

"Mai, I'm coming in" he added for his own sake. If she was indecent he didn't think he could control himself enough to _not_ attack her. But his caution was unneeded because she was there asleep, on the bed curled in to a tight ball on the center of the bed.

Naru had half a mind to wake her up and demand his tea but her face was just too peaceful to disturb. He walked over and ran the back of his hand across her smooth skin. He sighed; it was only going to get harder from here on in. Mai was already starting to fill into herself quiet nicely. He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her forehead then tucked her into the blankets that were carelessly thrown on the floor.

He left the room silently, closing the door then headed to his room to get his much needed sleep.

--

Mai shifted uncomfortably in her bed.

'_God, why is it so hot?'_ She opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Kyo was in _her _bed?

At least that's what it looked like. He was cuddled up ageist her stomach, breathing deeply. A sign that he was well into sleep; Mai smiled at the boy. He could be cute if he wanted to.

Mai felt a small trickily of wetness run down her arm. She lifted it from its place on top of Kyo's waist and gasped it was blood. She roughly turned him around, not caring if she woke him up.

"Hey!" Kyo muttered groggily in protest. Mai lifted his shirt above his head looking for injures of some kind but here was none. there was only blood. Small spats of it ran down his back. And dipped into his waistline; Seeming satisfied by this she got out of bed and dragged Kyo to the bathroom where she rid him of his shirt.  
"Sit on the toilet, I'll get a washcloth" she turned to the closet and retrieved a washcloth, running it under the water she rung it out then turned to Kyo who just like he was instructed was seated on the toilet.

"Turn around" mai commanded Kyo turned as told and waited for her to begin.

"Why were you in my bed?" mai asked curiously. Kyo flushed, specking softly.

"I had a nightmare, it was really bad and no one would let me in their rooms." Mai frowned; they wouldn't let the poor baby boy stay with hem for a mere second? She finished cleaning up Kyo and tossed the dirty cloth in to the sink.

"c'mon, I'll get you a shirt. She ruffled threw her bag and pulled out an old blue tee shirt she used for housework. She tossed it to Kyo who wordlessly slipped it over his head. She glanced over to the unmade bed, the sheets were ruined.

Mai striped the bed and threw the sheets into the hamper. She went over to the adjacent bed and un-tucked the sheets then slid in the cool touch of cotton. Kyo hadn't move from his spot in the room. Mai rolled her eyes and patted the spot next to her. Kyo climbed on the bed and slid into the warm sheets he turned on his side facing away from Mai. Mai smiled and flung her arm over the boy, pulling him closer to her. Kyo snuggled into the warmth and for the first time in a while he wasn't afraid to sleep.

--

From there on in Kyo was stuck to Mai like a moth to a flame. Everywhere mai went Kyo was steadily watching her.

To be blunt Naru was pissed, very pissed. The small boy-Kyo he believed his name was- fallowed Mai around like a puppy. From when she got up to when she went to bed. He was there watching her. To naru's displeaser he couldn't ay anything simply because the boy never disrupted their work. And when the boy finely started pulling on the very last of his patience, he snapped.

"Why are you in here?" naru questioned Kyo with an icy glare. Kyo raised an eyebrow.

"Because. I. Want. To. Be" Kyo stated coolly his tone mirrored Naru's.

Naru didn't scar him. He had Mai and he assumed that was enough for this man.

"I want you out _now_" Naru gritted threw his teeth. Kyo almost laughed. But stopped when he heard the door opening, quickly he raced over to her and hugged her waist, tears slipping from his eyes. Mai looked from Kyo to naru in an almost comical way. She settled her gaze (glare) on Naru.

"What did you do?" Mai questioned him; anger leaking in her voice. Naru shrugged

"Nothing" it was the truth. He had not laid a hand on the boy, _'yet'_ he thought happily. Mai glared at him then dipped down to pick up Kyo. He wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in the junction there. His legs formed and iron hold on her waist. She rubbed his back soothingly then turned to leave.

Kyo lifted his head slowly and smiled at naru. A cheeky smile, he fisted his hands into her shirt. Naru glared at him till they left the room.

--

Lin was never one to be fidgety but when he entered base he almost ran from the room instantly.

Mai was no where in sight and that could only mean she and naru were in another fight.

He grimaced at his boss and sat down at his desk. He placed the papers in his hand on the desk and turned to his boss.

"I did a back round check on all the owner's known associates" he hoped that this new information would lift naru's spirits (no pun intended) and hopefully he could work in peace.

Naru glanced at Lin and nodded. Lin shifted in his seat.

"Nothing sparked my interest at first but as I ran deeper threw the files I found a pattern." He laid the papers in front of him for naru to see.

"Every six months one of their friends, family, ECT, Seemed to just up and disappear. And all of them were… children" Lin paused for a moment but went on.

"Four of the first disappearances were found three weeks later dead."

He shuffled threw the files, pulling out four.

"The next four were taken six months later. And as the ones before them they were found three weeks later" he pulled out four more files.

Naru pursed his lips.

"We've got a kid killer on our hands"

* * *

ohhhhhhhhh, what will happen next?

**will naru kill Kyo?**

** will mai gett attacked?**

** will we ever hear from the other spr members ever agien?????? well you'll just have to read to find out:) thank you for all your support! i feel as though i could fly! i love you all.**

-dede


	5. authers note

I am soooo sorrryyyy!!!! I have to stop writing for so time due to the fact that my Microsoft word is only a trial and I don't have the money right now to buy a new one so please bare with me and don't hate me, I should be up and running in 3 or 4 weeks (give or take) it all depends on my mom. We moved out of state without our stuff and she refuses to be responsible and go get it! My poor baby is sitting on some storage locked getting all dusty! But don't worry! I've written a one-shot to tide you over for the time! You have all my love for staying with me for this long. Thank you

--dede


	6. bad mother

**hi there i know it's been awhile and i'm sorry for that but i hope that you'll rnjoy this new, drama filled chapter of: days of life!**

* * *

"You want to _what_?' Mai screeched, hoping that she was hearing things.

"I want to use kyo as bait for the ghost" Naru repeated him-self.

"Are you insane? Do you know what kind of risk you want to put him in!" Naru sighed; this _was_ harder than he though.

The team and the Kugen household sat in the formal dinning room. Going over their findings with the clients was very annoying for Naru so he had Lin explain most of it.

"What naru was explaining is true, the ghost goes after kids and we need a good look at what we're dealing with." Lin interrupted the potential fight, turning to the family.

"If you allowed us to do this we would most likely be done faster" the parents shared a look.

"And… what kind of risks would there be?" the father asked hesitantly.

"Well…" Lin started

"Who cares? We can finely live in peace!" miss Kugen interrupted. Mai stared, eye's wide in shock then slowly her shock became anger.

"besides, what could happen?" she added unnecessarily.

"Death, death can happen" Mai glared at her. Miss Kugen visibly shrunk back in to her seat at Mai's deadly look; the room temperature dropped at least three degrees. Lin frowned, this was not good, Mai was very anger and if his memory served correctly Mai was _very_ dangerous when she was anger.

"Well… you do have precautions don't you; for this kind of thing?" she questioned. Mai glared fiercely at her.

"That doesn't excluded that something could go wrong" Mai snarled at the woman.

"We can not always be there on time and if something dose go wrong _he could die_" the room was silent for a moment.

"We'll let him be bait" she stated bluntly. Naru nodded, Mai would have deal if she wanted to go home.

"Dear this isn't-"mister Kugen warned.

"I don't care! He isn't my child anyway!" she screamed, surprising everyone.

"He's just some kid you found on the street with that damn brother of his!" she ranted.

"he's the reason my baby is dead!" quiet gaps filled the room. Hero looked... disgruntled to say the least. He rose silently from his seat and started for the door, only pausing for a moment to glance back at his wife.

"we both know hes not the reason Rima is dead" was all he said before he walked out the door.

-------------0

the room was dark, the shads drawn and the door tightly closed.

Mai shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the edge of Kyo's small twin bed. She shifted he gaze to Kyo's peaceful form and smiled.

The team had protested greatly when she made the announcement that she would be staying with kyo during the stake out. Even Lin gave a slightly disapproving look to her when she had given no hint of backing down from her self-proclaimed stats or even when Naru decided to step in and order her around like he owned her.

"if you want me to keep my mouth shut about _your_ little secret then I suggest that you both shut your mouths right now" she whispered menacingly to both of them, shunting them up permanently. She gave no mind to naru's glares the rest of the night.

When bedtime rolled around kyo slid into her room as he had done the other nights sense but she was waiting for him and simply redirected him to his room. He gave a frown but she smiled at him reassuringly.

She ushered him into the room and closed to door.

"my room is to hot lets sleep in here, okay?" he nodded in reply and slid under the covers, the springs giving protest in small squeaks. She got on the bed not bothering to get under the covers. Kyo snuggled closer to her, tucking his head under her chin. She kissed his head.

"good night" she muttered softly.

"night" he whispered.

Mai sat there for a while, just listening to Kyo's even breath fan out on her neck. Her eyelids were drooping slightly and her body slumped on the bed like a discarded doll; competently relaxed she slowly drifted from conciseness.

------------0

the next time Mai woke up the sky was truing a light blue and the sun was just coming up. She slid her feet off the bed and glanced at kyo. His eyes were shut and his lips were moving softly as if talking. She smiled running her fingers threw his hair and kissed his temple. She dragged her body off the bed and stretched her body till her bones cracked and popped into place. With a satisfied sigh Mai padded to the door and headed down the hall to head quarters where she was sure she was going to get and earful about 'safety' and 'responsibility' and other such nonsense.

To her sunrise she found only lin in the room.

"hey lin wheres everyone?" she at least expected to see Naru here, being the work-a-holic he was . Lin swerved in his chair, regarding her with a startled look.

"they went out to interview witnesses" he glanced back at the computer screen.

"an hour an go" he added. Mai gave a troubled look.

"why-" she started. Lin held up a hand to pause her.

"they didn't need you" he said bluntly. Her brows furrowed. They always needed help interviewing people, between naru's coldness and bou-san's idiotic behavior they were lost without it.

"that can't be. We had almost fifty interviews scheduled today-"

"Mai, you're off the case." her breath hitched and her heartbeat sped at his words.

"w-why?" she asked shakily.

"you're to emotionally bound to the case, it's impairing your judgment" Mai's eyes narrowed at his words.

"fine then. Well tell naru and the others I said goodbye. Wont you?" lin nodded. She made her way to the door and paused for a second.

"oh, and lin?" lin turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"also tell naru that my resignation letter will be on his desk my Monday OK?" she smiled at him and closed the door on his worried expression.

She headed down the hall to her room and silently prayed that she had the will power to not kill someone today, with an amused smirk on her lips she headed to the foyer.

She had a call to make.

* * *

**arn't i just a bad person? i know this seems un-fair right now but it'll grt better soon.**

**i hate Mrs's kugen. i wanted to strangel her in this chapter. **

**please R&R**

**-dede**


	7. a new home

**sorry for this chapter being so late. i had mager writers block with this.**

**the story didn't flow as well as i wanted and it's not betta'd so don't exspect anything todal amazzing.**

**i don't own anything, damn.**

* * *

In retro-spec, he should have seen it coming. The signs were all there, he just choice to ignore them.

Naru ran his fingers threw his midnight colored hair and heaved a frustrated sigh.

Mai quit.

That's what Lin had said first thing when he and the others had come back from interviewing the household. His first reaction was shock, then anger and then regret. It was his fault, he drove her to it. Not that he showed any of this, but he felt it. He was so frustrated that he almost cracked the windows out of sheer rage. (1)

Shortly after a venting session on him (they had all agreed that it was his fault-excluding Lin and the Masako- that she left) Bou-San and john had left to go track her down and talk some sense into her. He wished them luck, silently of course.

Ayako (being the overbearing person she was) had made it her self-appointed duty to make him tea and set off for the kitchen shortly after; dragging a red-faced masako with her. He suspected that this act was not out of care but more for some sort of punishment for driving her friend away. He would not be drinking her tea any time soon.

The sound of Lin's constant typing was the only sound in the room.

Naru frowned and picked up the case file, flipping through the papers with a glassy eyed look and a distant expression he picked up his tea absent mindedly and took a dry sip.

He frowned when no hot tea hit his lips. He glanced down at the empty tea cup.

"Mai, tea" he demanded.

There was no reply.

No over excited 'Hai!'

There wasn't even a grumble about his lack of manners.

Lin's typing stopped.

"She quit noll" Lin stated broadly.

"Oh, that's right" Naru said matter-of-factly. Lin frowned, this wasn't going to end well, and he could feel it.

Mai leaned back in the old, warn leather seat of Ms. Hajji's foster care agency. When she had made her excite from base she practically ran to her room and with lightning speed she packed her bags, called a taxi and put in a call to her good friends at the child services office. They quickly diverted her to Ms. H's office and she set up and appointment.

Ms. Hajji was a plump dark skinned woman who had a strong jaw and sharp, clear, all-knowing eyes that were outlined with dark makeup, giving her a slight Hispanic look. Mai's dad had once said that no matter what the person looked like on the outside, you could always tell what kind of person they were by their eyes.

"So, Mai, what can I do for you today?" Ms. H leaned back in her seat, folding her arms above her head in a casual fashion. Her Spanish accent made its self evident in her speech. Mai had to stifle a giggle before talking.

"You see, there is this boy that I was working for not too long ago (four hours ago to be exact) and I was conserved with his safety…"

Mai gave her a pleading look, hamming it up a bit.

This caught Ms. H's attention; she leaned forward and intertwined her fingers.

"And do you think this boy is in immediate danger?" Mai ponder this for a moment.

"Not physically at least not right now, but there's potential" she opened her purse and handed her a manila colored file. Ms. H raised a penciled on eyebrow and flipped through the file. There was a picture of boy around six and personal information on the boy and his family. She briefly wondered where a teenage girl got this kind of throw info.

"It says here that you are registered as a foster parent already, how you manage that?" she gazed at the young girl before her; she looked no older than seventeen.

Mai shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Well, a year ago I was working on a case with my boss and we found a young girl, her parents were killed in a house fire and she was scared to death of everyone besides me so the foster agency thought it would be easier on her to live with a friendly face, I offered to house her while she was homeless and the rest just fell into place."

Mai smiled at the memory, lee was doing great now, and she even had a cute new boyfriend that she went on and on about.

"I see, well, you have great credentials and a few recommendations even" she mused. She glanced from the file to mai and back.

"Ok, we'll take a look at it and get back to you Kay'?" mai nodded and smiled at her. She stud up from the hot leather chair, the material stuck to her skin as she slid off it and made her way to the door.

"Oh, and Ms. Hajji?" Ms. H glanced up from the file.

"Hmm?"

"There is man there, he has black hair and blue eyes he goes by Kazuy shibuya, be careful, he's dangerous" mai left her with that notion in her head and a confused look on her face.

Their search had been un-successful for the most part.

Bou-san had found out that Mai had left in a taxi a half-an hour before they arrived from the butler and that she had her belongings in hand.

"Did she say anything?" Bou-san asked as he cracked his fingers. The old grey haired butler shook his head.

"No, the young miss just looked a bit troubled and strangely determined"

Naru didn't like the sound of that. When Mai was determined she would stick to it like stink on a skunk. He sincerely hoped that whatever or whoever it was that had her attention had the good sense of self-preservation. They were going to need it.

A chime rang threw the hose, startling naru. The butler stud and bowed to the group.

"If, you'll excuse me" he raced to the door and closed it lightly behind him.

Bou-san groaned and slid further into the chair.

"This is getting us nowhere fast" he complained. There were muffled agreements around the room.

Naru sighed; he wished that he had some descent tea.

"We can't let Mai's bad judgment detour us now, everyone back to work" naru ordered. The gang all held back a well needed sigh and trudged off in a non-to happy manner.

It was two hours later and the Shibuya research team had nothing to account for it.

Nothing, nodda, zilch, zero.

Needleless to say this did not put their boss in a better mood, in fact, he was so lived that he even yelled at Masako for getting him the wrong tea. Everyone was down to their last nerve and at each other's thoughts.

The straw that broke the camel's back was later that evening, when a Hispanic looking social worker came to the door and served the household with a warrant for kyo and his brother.

They all stood in the foyer; the tension was so think in the room that it could be cut with a knife.

"You can't just come in here and-!"

"Oh, yes I can, now had me over Kyo and rin and we will be on our way" the room went silent for a moment and Ms. H raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?" it was hero's turn to step in now.

"Well, you just have to understand, no one is supposed to know about rin…" he tailed off. Ms. H glared at the parents and put her hands on her hips.

"You will take me to Kyo and rin now or I will involve the police in this matter and you will be detained for not cooperating in a federal case" she hissed. Hero nodded and guided her up the stairs to Kyo's bedroom.

"HERO!" his wife screamed at him. He gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be a part of this any longer"

He was sitting on his bed, bags packed and a happy expression on his face when they opened the door. Kyo all but launched him-self at Ms. Hajji when she stepped into the room.

"I knew someone would come, I knew it" he muttered against her stomach and gave her waist a tight squeeze. He smiled up at her and tucked his little hand into hers.

"Mai sent you, didn't she?" Ms. H smiled and nodded. His hold tightened.

Hero coughed. Ms. Hajji nodded and pulled the boy from his room, closing it behind them.

"And rin?" she asked, her tone skeptical.

"This way" he muttered. He led them down the long, poorly lit hallway to the last door at the end of the hall.

Ms. Hajji almost puked when she glanced at the locks; there were at least ten of them.

"You have to understand, this was the only way" he whispered undoing the last lock and with trembling hands he pushed open the door.

The room was dark, there was no sighs of human life save for their own breathing.

"Rin?" Ms. Hajji called hesitantly.

"Rin, are you there?" she called louder this time. There was a shuffling sound from beside them and then right in front of them was a boy, he was small, malnourished to the point where his ribs stuck out and looked as if they were stretched accost his ghostly pale skin.

His paled, crystal like blue eyes stared at her with something akin to thankfulness. He approached them slowly and as he walked his cloths hung from his body, swaying with his body. Rin's eyes stayed on his brothers, never drifting from them until he was safely raped in his arms.

"I missed you Rin" Kyo muttered, tears staining his pink cheeks.

"I missed you to Kyo" Rin tucked his face into his big brothers chest and hugged him tightly. Ms. Hajji smiled at the scene and tapped Kyo's shoulder.

"It's time to go home"

Mai tapped her foot impatiently against the Granit floors of her hotel and checked he watch for the third time in the last hour.

Where were they? She had been waiting for more than two hours for them and she was starting to get mad. She paced back and forth, going through every conceivable possibility of what could have made them late.

"Mai!" she was pulled from her thoughts when a small, warm body latched onto hers. She glanced down and smiled at kyo.

"Hey there little guy" she said softly. He nuzzled his head into her abdomen and hugged her waits.

"Hey" his voice was thick with emotions and his eyes full of tears. She petted his soft hair and smoothed his shirt out. Mai glanced up at the sound of heels clacking against the floor.

"Ms. Taniyama, this is Rin" Ms. Hajji gestured to the pale, skinny boy standing in the doorway of the hotel with a bashful expression on his face.

Mai wanted to do so many things all at once when her eyes meat the boys sorrow filled eyes, but she settled for smiling.

"Hello Rin, I'm Mai" she held out her hand to the boy and he took a few carful steps to touch his fingertips to hers. Then in one fluid movement Mai slid her hand to his wrist and pulled him into a hug.

Rin crushed his face next to his brothers and snuggled in closer to mai's warmth. And for the first time in three years he felt loved.

* * *

**i think i like Rin alsmot as much as i like Kyo. there wasn't much naru/mai but it will come and just because i loved allllllll me readers i'll give you a preveiw: naru leaned into mai's soft lips and relished in the heat of her bluching cheeks. he almost smirked at how emabressed he could make her with just a simple little kiss.**

**haaaaa i can't wait to writ a kissing sean bettwen them**

**-dede**


	8. the starting

**hey, it's been a long time. hope you all forgive me. please don't kill me! i love you all!!!**

* * *

Glass crashed against walls and doors slammed shut with such force that it shook the house. For what reason?

Naru was pissed. Plane and simple. And the cause of all this anger?

Mai.

He was going to strangle the girl. And enjoy it to.

He paced back and forth in base for the last half an hour since the social worker had left and plotted Mai's untimely demise. The girl had some nerve coming in on his investigation and disrupting it; it was a childish act, all because he had taken her off the case and this was her revenge. He stopped his pacing and ran his hand through his hair with an aggravated sigh.

How did she even know there was another boy here? Because he certainly didn't.

He glanced around the empty room with a glare and plopped himself into the stiff sofa decorating the bland room. No one dared to enter the base after he had seethed his way up the grand steps and slammed the door shut, but not after a few choice words to the household about 'vital information' and telling his good-for-nothing work team to get back to work before he fired them all. Not even Lin, his faithful and seemingly fearless caretaker had even come to check in on him after his 'little' episode with his PK. That wasn't the smartest idea, naru admitted to himself.

he was exhausted now and he hadn't gotten any farther in the case thanks to Mai.

He held back a growl in his throat when he thought of her, but a small twitch came to his eye and was gone so fast that if you weren't trained in body langue it could have been mistaken for a blink.

He bit back another growl and the tea cup holding this mornings now cold tea cracked and shattered, purpling cold tea across the room and hitting him straight in the face.

Yup, he was going to strangle her.

Ooooooooooooo

"Mai, Mai can we order room service?" kyo asked, tugging persistently at her shirt.

"In a bit. Right now I need to find a way for us to get home." Kyo pouted, pursing his lips into a tight thin line and made his way dejectedly to Rin who was chuckling lightly on the bed. Mai smiled at the two of them and flipped through four more pages of the phone book. She caught site of a cheep taxi service and grinned happily.

Mai dialed the number and within the first to rings a man with an Indian ascent that mai found odd (considering they were in Japan) greeted her cheerily.

"hello, this is Merlo's taxi cabs. How can I help you?" his Japanese was perfect. That was even odder.

"uh, yes, I need a taxi sent to the sakara inn on third street in Chibua right away." Mai ordered. her voice did not betray her despite her curiosity about the man's origin.

"yes, of course ma'ma. We'll have a car there in a jiff" the line went dead, mai hung up the pay phone and turned back to the boys.

"so." she started off casually "who want's room service?"

0oooooooooooo

The taxi ride back to Shibuya was shorter compared to the ride there. Mai suspected this was because she had better company. She glanced at the two boys on either side of her and smile crept onto her face.

The boys found the entire ride completely exciting. They sat up on their knees and bounced on the seats, ignoring the taxi driver when her grumbled to them about safety. And when they found one site particularly fascinating they would ask as many questions as they could about it before they passed it and then write the name down in a small pocket pad that they had taken from their room at the inn, as a reminder to ask mai to see it latter. And mai agreed of course.

As the taxi pulled up to mai's apartment the boys dashed out of the car and dashed up the steeps to get a better look at their new home. Mai rolled her eyes and smiled lightly before paying the cab driver and gathering their luggage from the trunk.

"take care!" the cab driver called as her drove off. Mai lugged the suite cases up the steeps to her apartment and found the boys practically twitching out side her door.

"how did you…" she hadn't told them her house number. Had she? She shook off the feeling of unease she suddenly got and unlocked her front door.

Kyo was the first to bound through the door, fallowed by an aggravated looking Rin.

"Hey. I'm older, I should have been the first in!"

"you snooze you lose" kyo shot back through the kitchen. Mai chuckled, patted Rin's head and frowned.

"when is the last time you had a bath?" she hadn't noticed before, but Rin was very, _very_ dirty. Mai grit her teeth, attempting to control her anger and failed miserably at it. Rin gave her a patient smile and hugged her waist.

"it doesn't matter, I'll take one to night" he griped her shirt and she relaxed slightly. She smiled down at him and he returned it with a cheeky smile of his own. Kyo came in then and frowned.

"what's going on?"

Rin and mai exchanged an understanding glance. It was better to keep him in the dark, for now.

" we were just talking about bath time" at this Kyo's expression darkened and he took a steep back and glared.

"I don't want one" he muttered and mai gave a sly, calculating grin.

"Oh? Well that's sad." Mai sent Rin a sly look. He understood and played along, complementing her with a wink.

"yaeh." Mai continued "cuz' we were going to have ice-cream after-"

"with nuts" Rin cut in

"yes, with nuts, chocolate syrup and whip cream… but if you don't…"

"fine" Kyo grumbled "I'll take a friggen' bath"

Mai grinned triumphantly and lead the way to the bath. She pulled two towels out of the linen cupboard. The bathroom was a small, a homely feel surrounded the air and both boys relaxed easily into the calming atmosphere.

"now" mai handed the boys their towels. "when you two are done with your bath we'll eat dinner, have dissert and then you guys can pick out a movie to watch, okay?" the boys smiled and mai noticed the small imperfections in their teeth. She found the imperfections to be endearing.

Mai smiled back and headed to the door.

"when you want me to wash your hair just call"

"hai!" the chimed in unison.

Once mai's footsteps were down the hall the boys turned the knob on the bath and put the plug in.

"I like her" rin said suddenly. Kyo grinned lazily

"mhhmmm, she's nice" kyo striped off his clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Rin pulled off his shirt and scratched his chest absentmindedly. Kyo's eyes drifted to the pale skin that stretched like paper over rin's bones and frown. Rin caught his gaze and smiled gently.

"I'd like to stay here" rin climbed into the tub and kyo plopped in, splashing water right into rin's face. He blinked several times before glaring at Kyo who was trying desperately not to laugh, sadly, he fail.

"your dead" and rin lunged for Kyo's thought.

Ooooooooooooo

"did you two _have_ to get into a water fight?" mai chided as she moped up the soapy water from the tile floor.

"rin started it…"

"did not."

"did to"

"did not"

"did to"

An idea

"did to"

"did not"

And rin grinned

"I told you" he smirked.

"H-hey you tricked me!"

"did not."

"did to-"

"that's quite enough!" mai tossed to big shirts at them.

"put thoughts on for now, we're going shopping in the morning" Mai ruffled their hair and gave them a warm smile before slipping out of the bathroom and called: "dinners done!" and they hurriedly slipped on their P.J's and raced out of the bathroom

* * *

R and R! please and thank you's i need a beta reader by the way. and ummmmmm, i think i need to take somewriting classes -_-"


	9. authors note

I don't know how you all did it but you did. You all actually read this horrid story. I am impressed. I don't remember where I was going with story, I just reread it and I haven't the faintest idea how to continue it, so here's what I think. I'm going to start on this from scratch and see where it goes from there. I want to thank you all for reading this far and ask you be as understanding as you have been for all this time.

-DeDe


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